Continuous flow press for removing moisture from materials such as bark and the like



Jan. 3, 1956 K. A. u. LOWGREN ET AL 2,729,161 CONTINUOUS FLOW PRESS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM MATERIALS SUCH AS BARK AND THE LIKE Filed April 1-3, 1953 FIG. I.

V A f 7 i 2 7 23 6' 8 26 27 75 1 f 79 /74 73 QM 1 oo MMI E 6 3/ .92 so I 17 INVENTORS. 3' 7 KA /w oweuw f u/9mm BY Arrozzmy CONTINUOUS FLOW PRESS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM MATERIALS SUCH AS BARK AND THE LIKE K. A. Uno Lowgren, Yonkers, and Hjalmar S. Messing, New York, N. Y., assignors to American Defibrator Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 13, 1953, Serial No. 348,394 9 Claims. (Cl. 100-147) This invention relates to presses of the character used in connection with the production or treatment of wood fibres wherein the fibrous material, after receiving treatment, is caused to emerge from the apparatusthrough an outlet in a controlled flow that is attained by means located at the outlet and which partly closes the outlet opening. 7

In defibrators and other wood-pulp machines, an outlet opening is provided which is often partly closed by a movable gate which is retained under resilient pressure to thereby resist the flow of stock out of the opening, thus tending to compress the stock within an apertured outlet passage and express the fluids out of the stock. The present invention relates to an improved means, operative at the outlet opening to retard flow or emergence of the stock. It is an object of the invention to provide an effective device operating under controlled resilient pressure for opposing the flow of the stock; said means being accurately adjustable to retard the flow of stock at a desired rate, and which means can, if desired, be provided with vacuum means to aid in the withdrawal of the liquid that is expressed from the stock as the same is compressed within the outlet sleeve.

These and other objects are attained by the invention, a more particular description of which will hereinafter appear and be expressly defined in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. l is a side elevation, with some parts in section and other parts broken away to disclose construction of a press constructed in accordance with the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates a portion of a spiral rotary feeder operative in a housing 2 forming part of the apparatus by which the wood pulp, bark or other fibrous material has been treated. At its outlet end, the i housing 2 is flanged as indicated at 3. A frustro-conical sleeve 4 is connected to the outlet end of the housing 2, said sleeve having its smaller end provided with a radial flange 5 connected to the flange 3, but slightly spaced therefrom, by the bolts 6 and spacing bushings 7. Adjacent to its larger end, the sleeve 4 is provided with a radial flange 8.

Secured to the flanges 5 and 8 above the sleeve 4, is an elongated stationary cylinder 9 which has one end closed by a plate 10, secured by bolts 11 to a bar 12,

which has its lower end fitted around a pipe 13 and held in place thereon by means of the nuts 14 and 15 threaded on the pipe 13 and clamping the lower end portion of the bar 12 between them. One end of the horizontal pipe 13 is connected to a branch of a T-fitting 16 which has a second branch connected to an outlet pipe 17, and its remaining branch connected to a pipe 18 through which water under pressure may be forced.

The pipe 13 extends substantially parallel to the cylinder 9 and extends axially through the frustro-conical 2,729,161 Patented Jan. 3, 1956 is located within and is surrounded by the sleeve 4 and this portion 21 is provided with a plurality of openings 22 through which water or other liquid can pass to enter into the pipe 13 and be drawn therethrough to pass downward through the pipe 17, aided by the water flow under pressure exerted through the pipe 18. The sleeve 4 is also provided with drain holes as indicated at 23.

Mounted for slidable, axial movement within the cylinder 9 is an elongated piston member 24, which has one end, indicated at 25, extending beyond the end of the cylinder 9. Near its opposite end, the cylinder is provided in its under side, with an elongated slot 26 through which extends a plate 27 having its upper end fitted into a slot 28 in one'end of the piston 24 and attached to the piston by pins 29 extending through the piston and through the plate 27, clearly seen in Fig. 2. At its lower end, the plate 27 is welded or otherwise fixedly attached to a sleeve 35 which surrounds the pipe 13 and is slidable back and forth thereon. Said sleeve 30 terminates at one end in a conical plug 31 which has its smaller end directed toward and at least partly entering the outlet end 32 of the sleeve 4 and is movable to and from said end to more or less restrict said outlet opening in a manner to be explained. The piston 24, plate 27, sleeve 30 and plug 31 thereon form a slidable carriage by which the plug 31 is moved toward or away from the outlet 32 to an extent restricted by the limits of the slot 26.

The protruding end portion 25 of the piston 24 is provided at diametrically opposite sides with flattened surfaces, one of which is shown at 33 in Fig. 1, constituting bearing surfaces for a pair of links indicated at 34. The upper ends of these links are pivoted on a pivot pin 35 extending from a block 36 slidable on a threaded rod 37. At its lower end the rod 37 is provided with a clevis 38 which fits over an upstanding flange 39 secured to the top of the cylinder 9. Said flange 39 is provided with a plurality of holes 40, any desired one of which can be utilized to receive the pivot pin 41 which passes through the clevis 38 and through the flange 39, to thereby attach the rod 37 to the flange 39 at a selected location and maintain the rod vertically.

At the top, the block 36 is provided with a spring seat 42 against which the lower end of a coil spring 43 is rested, said spring surrounding the rod 37, the upper end of said spring being urged against a cap 44. The pressure of the spring 43 is regulated by the nut 45 threadable on the rod 37 above the cap 44. Extending upwardly from the seat 42 is a calibrated gauge 46 to aid in the regulation of the spring pressure.

At their lower ends, the links 34 are pivoted on the pins 47 projecting from the flattened surfaces 33 of the piston. These pins may be located at the position shown, or the same may be placed through the holes shown at 48 according to the pressure required. A second pair of links, indicated at 49, is shown pivoted at their upper ends on the pivot pin 35, while the lower ends of these links are pivoted at 50 on pivot pins extending laterally from diametrically opposite points on the cylinder 9. The pivot pins 50 can be located in the positions shown in the drawing, or they can, if required, be located in the openings shown at 51 in the piston 9.

From the foregoing, the operation of the device will be readily understood. The stock is moved by the rotary feeder 1 into the outlet sleeve 4 and fills the space therein and is compacted between the perforated tube 21 and the inner wall surfaces of the perforated sleeve 4.

Water or other liquid is expressed out of the apertures 23 in the sleeve 4 and some of the water will be suctionally drawn through the pipe 13 to pass out through the outlet pipe 17. The conical plug 31, located in the outlet end 32 of the sleeve 4 tends to constrict this opening and thus retard the passage of the stock so that; it is compressed in the sleeve 4 and the liquid forced out. The compression of the stock within the sleeve 4 is maintained by the adjustment of the spring 43 and the position of the pivotal points of the links and a regulated flow of the stock out of the opening 32 will take place, the stock dropping down on a conveyor or other means of carrying it off.

Through the adjustment of the coil spring 43 operative through the toggle links 34 and 49 on the piston 24, the plug 31 can be made to resist pressure up to selected amounts to thereby regulate the rate of feed of the stock from the apparatus. When the pressure reaches the point that it can overcome the spring pressure, the plug 31, sleeve 30, plate 27 and piston 24 will slide as a unit to the right, as viewed in Fig. l and thus increase the effective size of the outlet opening.

In addition to regulating the movements of the plug by the adjustment of the spring 43, further regulation is possible by shifting of the pivot pins 47 and 5 0 as was heretofore mentioned. When one or the other of these pivots is shifted, the pivot pin 41 may also be shifted to the required hole 40 in the flange 39 to thereby maintain the rod 37 in a vertical position.

The centrally located position of the suction tube portion 21, and the vacuum or suction exerted therethrough aids in withdrawing the fluids from the stock that is com pacted around the tube as the stock is urged toward and out of the outlet opening 32.

Having described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing, a spiral feeder operating therein, said; housing having an outlet, a perforated sleeve at the outlet of the housing, an apertured liquid-outlet tube extending axially through the sleeve, a carriage slidable on said tube, said carriage including a plug member located in the outlet end of the sleeve and movable with the carriage toward or away from said end, a piston forming a part of the carriage, a cylinder mounted on the sleeve and in which the piston reciprocates, a toggle having links connected to the cylinder and links connected to the piston, and spring means for applying pressure to the toggle to thereby resist sliding movements of the carriage.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a perforated sleeve located at the outlet of a rotary feeder, a, perforated tube extending axially through the sleeve, a plug member slidable on the tube and movable to or from the outlet end of the sleeve, a slidable piston connected to the plug member, a cylinder in which the piston is reciprocable, a toggle having links connected respectively to the piston and cylinder, and spring means operative on the toggle to cause the same to resist movements of the plug member in a direction away from the outlet end of the sleeve.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a per forated sleeve located at the outlet end of a rotary feeder, a perforated tube extending axially through the sleeve, 2. plug member slidable on the tube and movable toward or away from the outlet end of the sleeve, a cylinder extending substantially parallel to the tube, a piston carried by the plug member and reciprocable in the cylinder, the piston having one end protruding out of the end of the cylinder, a toggle having links attached to said'protruding end of the piston and having other links attached to the cylinder, a spring for applying pressure on said toggle to cause the same to resist movements of the plug member in a direction away from the outlet end (if the sleeve, means for regulating pressure of said spring, and means for varying the locations of the points of connection of the links to the piston and cylinder respectively.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a spiral feeder having a sleeve portion secured to one end, a perforated sleeve adjacent to one end of the feeder, a perforated stationary tube extending axially through the sleeve and having one end extended into the sleeve at the end of the feeder, a cylinder located externally of the sleeve and disposed substantially parallel to the tube, a slot in said cylinder, a piston located in the cylinder and reciprocable therein, a plate attached to the piston and extending through the slot, said plate having a sleeve portion surrounding the tube and located externally of the sleeve, said sleeve portion terminating in a conical plug located in the outlet end of the perforated sleeve, and a spring-pressed toggle operative on the piston to thereby tend to urge the plug toward the outlet end of the perforated sleeve.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a spiral feeder housing having an outlet, a perforated sleeve at the outlet of the housing and extending axially relatively thereto, an apertured tube located axially within the sleeve and having a part located externally of the same, a plug member slidable on the tube and movable thereon to or from the outlet end of the perforated sleeve, a piston connected to the plug member, a cylinder in which the piston is reciprocable, and a spring-pressed toggle operative upon the piston to thereby tend to urge the plug member toward the outlet end of the perforated sleeve.

6, In an apparatus of the character described, a spiral feeder housing having an outlet, a sleeve at the outlet of said housing, said sleeve supporting a horizontal cylinder, a piston slidable in the cylinder, a plug member movable to or from the outlet end of the sleeve, a pipe extending axially through the sleeve, said pipe having a perforated portion located within the sleeve, a spiral feeder within the housing, said feeder having a tubular element at one end receiving an end of the pipe, the plug member being slidably supported on the pipe, and spring means for resiliently resisting movements of the plug member and piston in a direction away from the outlet end of the sleeve.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, a feeder housing having an outlet end, a feeder in said housing, a perforated, frustro-conical sleeve at the outlet end of the housing and disposed axially in relation thereto, a perforated tube extending axially through the tube, said tube being supported at one end by means at the end of the feeder, the tube having a part located externally of the sleeve, a conical plug member slidable on the said part of the tube, a cylinder supported above the perforated sleeve, a piston slidable in the cylinder and having one end protruding beyond one end of the cylinder, a connecting-piece extending between the piston and the plug member, the cylinder having a slot in which said connectingpiece is slidable, a toggle including a pair of links connected to the protruding end of the piston and a second pair of links connected to the cylinder, an adjustable member to which the links are all pivotally connected,a spring for applying resilient pressure to said adjustable member to thereby cause-the same to movethe links in a manner to cause the plug member to resiliently resist movement in a direction away from the outlet end of the perforated sleeve.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, a feeder housing having an outlet end, a perforated sleeve at the outlet end of the housing, a stationary perforated tube disposed axially through the sleeve and means connected to said-tube-irl which a vacuum may be obtained in order to suctionally withdraw fluid through the perforated tube and out of the sleeve, and a non-rotative plug member t ing around and operative onthe outside. of the perforated tube and movable toward and away from the outto said outlet and forming a substantial continuation of 5 the same, a perforated suction tube disposed axially of the sleeve, piping connected to said tube and through sleeve, and means for resiliently resisting movements of said plug member in a direction away from the outlet end of the sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 10, 1900 France Mar. 2, 1909 Sweden May 8, 1909 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1935 

